After two years of surgeries and setbacks, Vondrousova plays like she never left

Marketa Vondrousova had just broken Wang Xinyu for the second time in the third set of the Berlin Tennis Open final. And as the players walked to their changeover chairs, Gloria Gaynor’s disco anthem “I Will Survive” wafted through Steffi Graf Stadium.

It was probably an attempt to lift the spirits of Wang, a qualifier playing in her first Hologic WTA Tour final. And yet, it poignantly captured the determined attitude that has carried Vondrousova through two difficult years after winning the title at Wimbledon.

On Sunday at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club in the leafy Grunewald district of West Berlin, Vondrousova was a 7-6 (10), 4-6, 6-2 winner over Wang. It was her first title since that breakthrough at the All England Club.

The 25-year-old from the Czech Republic came in with only six match wins in six months -- and departed with five in six days. Two of them came against Aryna Sabalenka (the first of her career over a World No. 1) and Australian Open champion Madison Keys, who will be two of the leading favorites at Wimbledon next week.

The first-set tiebreak was the microcosm of that struggle marked by shoulder surgery and a maddening six-month rehabilitation. Vondrousova faced six set points -- and saved them all.

Vondrousova was exceedingly patient until the 18^th point of the frame, when she started lashing her most heated groundstrokes of the match, taking control of the point to level it at 9-all. After that furious flurry, she settled back into safety mode, dropping another unreturnable serve between two backhand errors from Wang.

That patience, she said, evolved from her journey of the past two years.

“She was sometimes way better than me in the rallies, so I just tried to hang on and put as many balls back as I could,” Vondrousova said. “You have to be very patient with all that surgeries and injuries that I had -- it really teaches you. So maybe it’s like that. 

“I try to not complain and remember all the things I had to deal with before.”

Vondrousova was ranked a career-high No. 6 last year when she lost her first match at Wimbledon as the defending champion. She entered Berlin at No. 164, but will find herself up to No. 73 when the PIF WTA Rankings update on Monday.

She won’t be seeded at Wimbledon, but no one will want to see her name next to theirs in the draw.

Afterward, Vondrousova chatted with wtatennis.com:

On match point, you hit one last forehand winner, then took a quick look at your box and fell to your knees. What were you thinking at that moment?

Vondrousova: I felt like you always feel, kind of relief. I just remembered everything I’ve been through and the way we worked to come back. Everything came together here.

You arrived in Berlin with six wins in six months -- and won five matches in six days -- how do you explain that?

Vondrousova: I don’t know … I felt like I had nothing to lose in the first two matches. The pressure was off. Then I just enjoyed the game. I was the underdog in these matches and I felt great. In the first match I played Madison Keys, which was a very tough draw, I was thinking. I served well and, yeah, just found my game on the grass again.

You beat World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Australian Open champion Keys, who could be the two leading favorites at Wimbledon … what is it about grass that suits your game so well?

Vondrousova: I moved pretty well on clay and hard courts, but not so good on grass. In the last couple of years, I learned how to move on it. I feel like it takes a little bit of time to learn how to play on grass.

After left shoulder surgery last year, what was the most difficult moment for you?

Vondrousova: I started to practice again, two or three months after surgery [in the early fall of 2024]. And the pain came back. That was the hardest part about it -- that it wasn’t good even after the surgery. You have to come back every time, so in your mind it’s like, `Can I do that again? Can I play with these girls again?’ I feel like you never know. It started again and I was like, `Guys, I cannot play like this.’ So then we had to stop and then we did a lot of exercising and stuff. It was very tiring to do that twice a day without tennis. So I had to stay positive. I always believed I can play again. But in our minds it was like -- does it ever stop and will I be back? That was the thing I was thinking: Maybe I’ll never play again without pain.

What do you expect from yourself at Wimbledon?

Vondrousova: I’m not going to be seeded, so … I always say it’s one tournament, in one week. And then, if you make it, the next week is very different. So I’ll just try to enjoy a few days off now and back to hard work. Stay grounded, stay in your lane, focus on tennis and play these matches as if nothing happened.